Click here for PDF file of major application.

Women's Studies is an individually designed interdisciplinary major. Students have the option of focusing their course work around a particular theme. We encourage students to explore internships, independent studies, and honors options and other educational opportunities in order to craft your own program to best suit your interests. Advising is central to the major, in addition to staff advisors each student has their own faculty sponsor.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

NOTE: In addition to the WOST major, we have a pre-major, CAS/W. The pre-major indicates your interest in the program. CAS/W and WOST majors and Women’s Studies minors have priority in getting into Women’s Studies classes. You can change your major to CAS/W at any time by seeing the Chief Undergraduate Advisor. In order to change your major to WOST (the official Women’s Studies major) and graduate with a degree in Women’s Studies, follow the rest of the procedures outlined below.

1. If you are interested in a Women's Studies major, talk with one of the advisors in the Women's Studies office and/or a Women's Studies faculty member (208 Bartlett, 545-1922) about your interests and what your course of study will encompass. In addition to the staff advisors in the office, each Women's Studies major has a faculty sponsor who acts as their academic advisor. Program staff or faculty assist students in choosing an appropriate sponsor.

2. Women's Studies maintains an open admissions policy, but requires a completed application form that outlines your intended course of study, and attendance at an orientation session.

3. Meet with your intended sponsor, discuss the application and your past coursework (attach an unofficial transcript) and have them sign your application. Leave a copy of the form with your sponsor for future reference.

4. Sign up in the office for an orientation session. Deadline for Fall admission to the major is October 31. Deadline for Spring admission to the major is April 1.

After your paperwork is complete and the orientation session is over, process a University change of major form to make the change official. You must be switched to WOST to be officially in the program. See the Chief Undergraduate Advisor to have change of major or declaration of multiple major forms signed. After Women’s Studies has signed your forms, you must sign out of your old major, pick up your academic folder, deliver the folder to the Women’s Studies Office, and deliver the fully signed change of major form to the Registrar’s Office in Whitmore.

WOMEN'S STUDIES MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

University Requirements: Women's Studies majors must fulfill the University graduation requirements of 120 credits, including 45 credits in residence, with a minimum overall grade point average of 2.0 as well as a 2.0 in the major.

College Requirements: Students must also fulfill University General Education and College of Humanities and Fine requirements. These include the foreign language requirement and the out of college interdisciplinary requirements. See one of the advisors in WOST for the most up to date version of the requirements or pick them up in the Arts and Sciences Advising Center and Dean's Office in E24 Machmer.

Women's Studies Requirements: Majors must take 36 Women's Studies credits.

• Complete application (including signature of sponsor) and orientation process.

• Take 36 credits including these 5 required courses:
  • WOMENSST 201 Critical Perspectives in Women's Studies
  • WOMENSST 301 Theorizing Women's Issues or WOMENSST 394H - Black Womanist/Feminist Theory
  • 2 courses on Women of Color - 1 course on Women of Color in the U.S. and 1 course on Women of Color outside the U.S. - this includes courses that take a diasporan or global approach (a list of these courses is published in the course guide each semester)
  • WOMENSST 391W Writing for Women’s Studies Majors (The junior year writing requirement--WOST 391W, (offered each fall)--a University requirement, is counted in the 36 credits necessary for the major.)
  • WOST 394H can fulfill the theory requirement or a Women of Color requirement, but not both.

• A cumulative average of 2.0 in Women's Studies

• Complete end-of-program report and submit to the office.

In addition to the 5 required courses (usually totaling 15-17 credits), students need 20 additional credits to complete the major. All courses must relate to the proposed course of study to be counted. If your major has a theme your theme should be clearly described in your application. If you change your focus later in the program, submit a new, accurate application spelling out the new focus.

The elective credits can be earned in any one of the following ways:

• Courses offered through Women's Studies at the University.

• Courses offered in other departments or at the other colleges listed as Departmental Courses in the Women's Studies Course Offerings guide. (See exceptions, points 2 and 3 below.)

• Courses listed as Component Courses in the guide count as Women's Studies courses if at least 1/3-1/2 of the work for the course is on women, gender roles or Women's Studies. If the paper topics offered are not adaptable to a focus on women’s issues, the student is encouraged to meet with the faculty member to devise a paper topic that fits with their academic program. In the case of a component course, the student is responsible for documenting that the work done for the course is sufficient to grant Women's Studies credit.

• Independent Work: Independent study, field work, and practicum credits may count towards the Women's Studies degree if related to the student's program. Practicum, field work, or independent studies can be taken under WOMENSST course/schedule numbers, or schedule numbers in another department. As in the case of component courses, the student is responsible for documenting how the work relates to her major. A limit of 15 credits of these types of courses can count toward the major. Honors thesis/project are NOT included in the 15 credit limit.

Skills Courses: Those courses that the student must take to learn a specific skill or master a body of knowledge that is part of their course of study may be counted towards the major. For example, a student whose focus is women and labor relations can use a course on Labor Law from the Labor Relations and Research Center to fulfill credits towards her major regardless of whether the class focuses on women. There is a total limit of 12 credits that can be earned in this fashion. Skills credit must be requested in writing on the application.

To find out how to count other types of courses, or about course waivers, request a copy of “Waiver and Substitution Procedures for Women’s Studies.”

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS

1. Students are responsible for ongoing sponsor contact, meeting with the sponsor at least once a semester preferably during pre-registration.

2. Courses at the 100 level will not count toward the major with the exception of WOMENSST 187, Introduction to Women's Studies.

3. There is a maximum limit of 15 credits of independent work that can be applied to the Women's Studies major. All practica, independent studies, internships, and other special projects are considered "independent work." Thus all credits earned under schedule numbers 196, 396, 496, 198, 298, 398, and 498 are subject to this limitation. Credits earned over the 15 limit maximum can count towards graduation, but not towards the 36 credits needed for the major. In addition, The University has a limit of 15 practicum credits (198, 298, 398, 498) counted towards graduation.

4. At the end of your program you must fill out an end-of-program (EOP) report form, have it signed by your sponsor, and submit to the office. The report includes a list of all courses in the 36 credits, and feedback on your academic program overall. Contact the office for a copy. You will not be cleared for graduation until the EOP form is in!

RECOMMENDATIONS AND HELPFUL HINTS

1. We encourage students to include field work and independent study as part of their course of study. A member of the Women's Studies staff is available for consultation about possible field work placements. Women's Studies graduates continually emphasize that field work was a very important experience both as a way to make connections between experience and the classroom and as a way to test possible career interests.

2. Women's Studies offers a departmental honors program for students who are considering graduate or professional school or who enjoy doing independent work. Honors work must be conceived of as a year long project, generally undertaken in the senior year. For more information see the Women's Studies Honors Coordinator.

3. We suggest that students distribute their work evenly over four semesters with approximately 9 credits of Women's Studies courses per semester. Our experience has been that more than three Women's Studies courses in one semester is too heavy a burden on most students.

The Women's Studies Program is always open to student suggestions. The Women's Studies Executive Committee, the decision making body for the program, includes 2 undergraduate student representatives as well as a graduate student, Women's Studies faculty, adjunct faculty and staff.

Revised 4/06

NOTE #1: When turning in the application, retain these pages for your reference.

NOTE#2: The actual application can be obtained from the Women’s Studies Office or see the PDF link at the top of the page. This web version is intended for information purposes only.

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